Solid Waste Reduction March Madness Magazine Drive

Our recycling program began in 2007 when Mrs. Speelman's fifth grade class created a petition to encourage the administration, teachers, and students to start a recycling program at HSES. The students were studying the Constitution and learning about their rights and responsibilities as a citizen. The students decided to exercise their right to petition. 497 signatures were collected and the recycling program was born. The petition changed our way of thinking and now we continue to recycle each and every day of the year. During the past four years, the HSES Earth Force Team(5th grade Environmental team) has held many paper drives, including the infamous March Madness Magazine Drive. In the month of March, classrooms compete against each other to see who can create the highest tower of magazines and catalogs. Tower heights are measured and recorded each week. In our first competition, Mr. Pope and Mrs. Wilken's classrooms won and earned a pizza party with the Abitibi Paper Retriever mascot, a.k.a. Mrs. Speelman. Magazines/catalogs were collected from each classroom and displayed in tall stacks near the entrance to the cafeteria. The magazine towers were a visual reminder of the importance of recycling. In the second year of the March Madness Magazine Drive, the word spread and the recycling fever ignited. Towers increased in size and the competition was fierce. Six tons of magazines were collected in two weeks and a school tower of 320 ft was created. Again Mr. Pope's class reigned on top with Mrs. Wilken's and Mrs. Powell's class coming in second place with the tallest towers. Winning classrooms were awarded with an environmental t-shirt making party.

Last year, The Earth force team discovered that an average of 138 pounds/day of solid waste was thrown away in our school cafeteria. That's 24,840 pounds in a school year! On Wednesdays, from February 1st through April 18th of 2012, the solid waste was collected at each lunch shift and weighed. The grade level with the least amount of trash thrown away each month received the Green Leaf Award at the Station Call Awards Assembly. The recycled trophy made by the Earth Force Team was proudly displayed in the winning team. In addition, students received a pencil made from recycled paper with an environmental message. The contest was a huge success because students began packing waste free lunches more often during the week and more items were recycled during the lunch shifts.

Choo Choo Choose to Go Green!

The Hollifield Station Green Team sells reusable bags to support Solid Waste Reduction. Email Mrs. Speelman for an order form.

P.T.A. supports Green School Initiatives with Snack Taxi Fundraiser

Order your reusable snack/sandwich bags in super-fun print and colors! The children love having them in their lunch boxes AND are participating actively in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Green Campaign!! Great Teacher appreciation gifts, children's gifts, and for yourself!!! March 1-April 1 2013

1. First, log onto snackTAXI’s website, [http://www.snacktaxi.com2/ ]www.snackTAXI.com 2. Next, click on fundraising near the top of the page. 3. Type Hollifield Station in the box & click “search fundraisers”.Your school PTA will receive 40% of your merchandise total and your order will be shipped directly to you by the United States Postal Service!

The Earth Force Team visits the Alpha Ridge Landfill in Marriottsville, Maryland

HSES Students visit the Alpha Ridge Landfill to learn about where our garbage in Howard County goes and what items are recycled there. Powerpoint presentations were created with their new knowledge and were shared at our "Go Green" night in June of 2011. The students learned that our garbage is trucked or shipped by train to King George, VA. Let's do our part to reduce the number of items thrown away in our landfill! REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, AND RETHINk what you throw away!

Alicia Moore Visits HSES to Share about Recycling

Students not only recycle in their classroom, but learn to recycle in the cafeteria too! Ms. Moore spent the day with our students teaching the students about which items in their lunch are recyclable, where the items go once it leaves the school, and the importance of recycling. We love the 3 R's!

Electronic Communication is Popular at HSES!

Hollifield
Station communicates with parents using the KOT (Keeping on Track)
e-school newsletter. P.T.A. also gets on board with communicating
electronically with parents and teachers with social media.